Five tables were lined up in front of the magic screens, each with a ballot box. Catering Association staff wearing red vests were collecting and registering the ballots. Each ballot had to be passed through a crystal ball next to it, those emitting green light were counted directly, while those emitting red light were considered invalid.
"Hey, look at this restaurant! Why are the prices so high? Tofu pudding is 200 copper coins a serving! Rou Jia Mo is 300 copper coins a serving! And that Yang Zhou Fried Rice is 600 copper coins! The most expensive dish, braised chicken, is a whopping 800 copper coins!" A short-haired young man among the staff checking information exclaimed in disbelief, holding a slip in his hand. "One customer spent 1000 copper coins on breakfast alone!"
"Huh? Isn't this the restaurant? There are already customers so early in the morning?" Luther and Alvin, who had just put down the tables and chairs, both looked surprised.
"I think the boss was probably worried that not getting a single vote would look bad, so he had his employee secretly bring one over. Who would spend 1,000 copper coins to go to that shabby restaurant for breakfast so early in the morning? But our voting system allows one valid vote per person per day, so may be he'll get ten votes in the end." Alvin said, scoffing at the behavior.
"I thought only big restaurants would resort to vote-rigging, but I didn't expect this small restaurant to pull this stunt too. The amount spent accounts for 30% of the rating, so his ten votes are worth a hundred or so others'. If you ask me, our ranking system should have been changed a long time ago. More and more customers are starting to question our fairness." Luther shook his head, somewhat annoyed.
"Shh, keep your voice down. Do we lowly employees have the final say on these things? Although our Catering Association belongs to the City Lord's Mansion, but aren't the restaurants of the Aden Square Merchants' Union the ones that pay the most money every month? Let's just turn a blind eye to this kind of thing." Alvin shushed him, looked around, and said nervously.
"I know, but I've worked here for over twenty years. Back when I was young, the restaurant rankings weren't like this. They were a ranking of restaurants chosen by the customers themselves, and they were very popular. Ever since the Morton family took complete control of the Aden Square Merchants' Union, everything has changed. They've just been using us as tools!" Luther sighed, somewhat annoyed and helpless.
"Is it that restaurant called Restaurant Mai Mi? I have a slip here too, it cost 1300 copper coins!" Just then, another slip checker spoke up.
"There's another one?" Luther and Alvin were surprised, but even more furious.
"I have three more, for 500 copper coins, 1000 copper coins, and 1100 copper coins respectively."
"I also have a 200 copper coins slip here."
"There are two more here!"
The ballot inspectors were all surprised. High prices were not uncommon in Aden Square, but such expensive dishes priced at several hundred copper coins were usually only found in high-end restaurants.
It's simply impossible for such an obscure little restaurant to price its food so high and sell so many servings during breakfast time.
Even at Dukas Restaurant, it's impossible for anyone to order a whole roasted lamb for 2500 copper coins so early in the morning, although the main reason is that the restaurant doesn't serve whole roasted lamb in the morning.
"Is this restaurant participating in the rankings competition for the first time? Could it be the dark horse of this competition?"
"Even a dark horse can't be this dark! Judging from this order, this 800 copper coins braised chicken isn't enough to fill you up. If you order three of these, you could go to Dukas and have a whole roasted lamb!"
"Exactly. I think this restaurant is probably up to something, inflating the prices of its dishes, right?"
The ballot inspectors immediately started discussing among themselves. One of them took out a notebook, looked through it for a while, and pointed to the last restaurant on the list, saying, "If they didn't make a mistake when they registered, the prices of the dishes at this restaurant are indeed like this, exactly the same as those listed here."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent and turned to look at the gaunt middle-aged man who had been standing silently to the side. One of them spoke up, "Vice President, what do you think we should do about this?"
"Don't rush to conclusions. Record all slips that can pass the magic ball's verification. Count how many customers spent money this morning and the total amount. At noon, I'll personally go to that restaurant to check. If it really is a violation, then we must disqualify that restaurant from the competition and permanently ban it from the rankings." Robert gestured for everyone to calm down.
"Vice President Robert was just transferred from the City Lord's Mansion last year. He has been dedicated to correcting the chaos in the rankings, but unfortunately, he's all alone and has been sidelined. His words don't carry any weight in the association. Now he can only come to the ballot checking site to keep an eye on things. If there are any abnormalities, the vice president has to personally investigate. If there were more officials like him, our association wouldn't have fallen to this state." Luther looked at Robert with a serious expression, respecting him but also feeling a little sorry for him.
"I think there's definitely something wrong with that restaurant. With Lord Robert around, we can't let him get too arrogant!" Alvin clenched his fist.
"Okay." Everyone nodded and continued checking slips. They noticed that slips for the Restaurant Mai Mi were placed separately, and soon everyone had dozens of slips beside their hands.
"Vice President, there are a total of 320 slips, with a total expenditure of... 150,400 copper coins!" The old accountant, who had more than 30 years of experience in checking slips, exclaimed as everyone gathered all the slips together.
The scene fell silent, the expressions of the crowd were a mixture of surprise and anger.
The breakfast business generated 150,000 copper coins, a staggering amount that even the most successful breakfast shop in Aden Square couldn't achieve.
Such a turnover coming from an unknown restaurant is hardly believable to anyone present.
"This is utterly arrogant! They completely disregard the rules!"
"Yes, Vice President, I don't think we even need to investigate. Just remove him from the rankings and put him on a permanent blacklist."
The silence lasted for a while before someone spoke up, their expression somewhat agitated.
"Give me the information about this restaurant. Don't rush to conclusions. Let me check it out in person before making a decision." Robert also looked surprised, but he didn't rush to conclusions either.
With a turnover of 150,000, even with a low number of votes, this restaurant is enough to crack the top 100. If it can maintain this level of turnover during lunch and dinner, breaking into the top 50 wouldn't be difficult.
"Okay, all the information is here. According to the information submitted by our inspector, this restaurant has been open for less than a month." The old accountant handed the documents directly to Robert.
"Restaurant Mai Mi, at the westernmost part of Aden Square." Robert carefully examined the somewhat incomplete information for a while, then put his hand down, looked into the distance, his brow furrowed. If this chaos wasn't eradicated, the Catering Association would eventually lose all credibility.
…
Mai Ge was completely unaware of what was happening in the square. He had only sent out a little over three hundred voting slips that morning, which made him a little worried about not making the list, especially with the sweet vs savory debate raging. He couldn't be bothered to think about the spots for those two dishes anymore.
"Daddy, I'm back! I learned a new spell today!" Amy's voice rang out from outside the door as noon approached, filled with excitement.